Coming Out About My Mental Illness

January 21, 2015 6:47 PM

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Each of us has a unique story, something that will be etched in our tombstone, and quintessentially a set of core values that will define us. I've done many things that I can be proud of. I worked on the F-117A Stealth Fighter, have written a number of ebooks (some of which you won't find under my name), earned a bachelors degree and currently working on a master's degree. But these aren't what I am proud of. I'm proud of being a mental health advocate. Advocating for those of this generation and a population that has long been stigmatized as though we're living in the lower rungs of a caste system.

Society reinforces a caste system whereby people are governed by their individual ability to manifest themselves within a set of protocols that forces one to become chameleon-like or be shamed into the lower rungs of that caste system. As a man with a mental illness I find that this caste system is ...